Нова Проспект / Nova Prospect: Hubnester Inferno (Эредин)

Hubnester Inferno (Eredin)

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 14:10

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Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 14:10

Not far from Red Bank

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 15:44

Eredin felt as if he had been reborn-so wonderful was the absence of mind-numbing pain. Whatever device had been implanted in his skin, Zireael's teleportation had been fatal to it. The way Namir's fist shimmered as it touched the green haze was no accident.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 15:44

The pain no longer confused his thoughts, and Eredin was able to dive into the magical flows after Zireael, catching the girl by the scruff of the neck and throwing her out of the Interworld back to the ground. The outcome of the fight was predetermined before it even began. It would take her a couple of centuries to become a worthy opponent for Eredin. Only devilish, unnatural luck had allowed her to elude him again and again.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 16:24

Nothing lasts forever. Eredin looked at the girl's body sprawled on the muddy ground. He carried Zireael down to the seashore, hiding her from view behind a rocky cliff.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 16:24

Eredin clenched his teeth at the realization that it would be suicide to go back and fight those who had done his people so much harm, with a broken wrist and no armor. But valor, in this case, would border on idiocy. He would have to swallow the bitter pill and let Namir and his mutts live. For now.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 16:25

The only consolation was that neither divine intervention, unicorns, nor any other unbelievable coincidence could save Zireael now. The only thing that spoiled the taste of victory was the thought that the Red Riders were still in the clutches of the sadists.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 16:26

He would be damned if he condemned his warriors to certain death. Not to mention the fact traveling the Spiral without the Navigator could lead to oblivion in the labyrinth of worlds.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 16:27

But even with reinforcements, trying to take over a building teeming with soldiers without fully understanding their weapons and technology would be a mistake he wouldn't make twice.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 16:27

Thank Providence, Eredin didn't need the whole building. He knew its inner workings. It was foolish not to blindfold the captive. There were few soldiers in the laboratories where the Riders were kept unless you counted mechanical servants. If you cut off a floor with Geas Garadh, a Barrier spell, blocking entrances and exits, openings through which poison could seep...

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 16:28

Rescuing the riders is possible. Even if it is a plan of escape, not retribution. In parting, the Aen Elle will leave a gaping wound that the dh'oine will be unable to heal. Were they interested in magic? Let them suffocate in it as in the blood they spilled.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 16:30

Eredin mentally called out to the Council, just as he had once called to the cursed world the Red Riders. Silence was his answer. It troubled Eredin greatly: the Council had expected the call three days ago. They must surely suspect the worst now.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 16:31

A stray thought flashed through his mind: had there been a power shift in his absence? It had long seemed to Eredin that Ge'els was more poisoned than anyone else by suspicions of Auberon's violent death.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 20:56

Disturbing thoughts were interrupted by a pitiful moan.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 20:56

Eredin turned his gaze to Zireael, dead pale and shivering with cold. It was as if she, too, had been kept in torture chambers: blood soaked through her tight-fitting suit, and brown dirt under her fingernails.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 20:57

The girl would have to be washed in three waters before she could be laid with. Maybe then Aen Hen Ichaer, the heiress of Shiadal and Lara Dorren, could be seen in her.

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 10:50

It took some fiddling with the clasps before Eredin was able to pull the suit down to his waist and examine the wound on his side, where the ribs protruded beneath the skin. It was nothing: the projectile had left a deep but not fatal cut. What do the dh'oine say? It'll heal before the wedding.

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 10:51

Not that Eredin was going to tie himself to her in any way. An illegitimate offspring would suit him just fine.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 16:31

He washed the wound diligently with salt water. Zireael looked more like an elf than a dh'oine, her leanness emphasizing her lean muscles, her small breasts harmonizing with her narrow hips. She could only hope that the resemblance ended there and she got pregnant faster than the women of Aen Elle.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 20:58

And yet why the hell would Zireael try to attack Namir? She could have slipped away unnoticed. Whatever the impulse, Zireael had done him an invaluable favor.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 21:04

But until she arrives in Tyr na Lia, she had better remain in a lethargic sleep.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 21:05

//"My King," a voice as clear and deep as the singing of a harp rang through Eredin's mind.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 21:05

He closed his eyes and saw the most beautiful face he'd seen in a while. Deirdre. Caranthir's apprentice was nicknamed Willow because of her red, almost orange hair. Deirdre's ardor bordered on cruelty, but she never stooped to it. Unlike the iron creature, the sorceress had never soiled her snow-white boots with another's blood.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 21:07

Deirdre stood between two marble columns decorated with deciduous acanthus, and the light of two suns fell through the tracery of the windows on the delicate features of her face. How quickly the eye grows accustomed to rectangular shapes and rough lines, and how dazzling the newly seen beauty.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 21:08

//"I'm glad to see you in good health," Deirdre continued, politely not paying attention to his less-than-presentable appearance. - We suspected the worst. Ge'els is convening a war council."

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 21:10

Eredin appreciated the urgency - it had been three days since their disappearance, and Ge'els had not yet sorted out the bureaucracy. The council would need a couple of weeks for a verdict, and by then the problem of the king's absence would have resolved itself.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 21:09

//"I wouldn't call it good, Deirdre, but I'm alive. The others will suffer a different fate if..."

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 21:13

//" Are they alive?" Deirdre hastily interrupted him. Eredin frowned — inappropriate cavalierness for an elf.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 21:14

//...If we don't hurry," he continued calmly, forgiving the slip-up graciously. - I need your help, Deirdre, and the other mages," he paused before adding dryly, "Unless they'd rather huddle in a corner and wait out the storm, as they've done for centuries.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 22:19

Deirdre averted her eyes. The only ones capable of making quick decisions in the Aen Elle world were himself and perhaps Carantir. Only imminent danger could bring the others out of their somnambulistic state.

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 10:53

Aen Elle weren't small children to scare each other with scary pictures, but if there was no other way to convince them let the entire Council see what had happened to the Red Riders. Except for the one memory that had been poisoned under his skin.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 21:15

Deirdre's sharply contoured lips curled in horror when she saw what had happened in the lab. Now Eredin understood the impulse - the sorceress was worried about the man who had shared the bed with her. Imlerich.

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 10:54

//"En... enough," she squeezed out, "Beasts. Wild, brutal beasts. They are not worthy of pity."

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 10:55

If anyone even stammers for mercy, they will fly from the Spiral to feed on the creatures, regardless of gender or title.

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 10:56

//"Eredin," came another voice he wanted to hear far less. Ge'els bowed respectfully, "Congratulations on your precious booty.

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 10:57

The advisor's face was unmoving and indifferent. Eredin cast a glance at the proverbial trophy and shrugged. It was too early for congratulations.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 21:15

//"The Red Riders are in enemy hands. We must recover them."

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 10:58

//"With all due respect..." Ge'els cocked a thin eyebrow, "We cannot afford another reckless attack. I insist on a council of war before we take further action."

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 10:59

Aen Elle has failed, and that cannot be undone. But every defeat reveals a flaw in tactics. Magic, not sword. Strike at the back, not the chest.

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 10:59

//"You are either stupid, Ge'els, or cruel," Eredin replied, "Do you have any idea how long it will take? My warriors would be long dead by then."

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 11:01

More and more Aen Elle joined their conversation - the Council was awakening to the king's call. And despite the regalia, Eredin felt as if he were in court - everything he said would be weighed, measured, and debated. The ghostly silhouettes reminded him of the shadows on the walls that had once watched his torture.

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 11:02

//"You brought them to a foreign and hostile world of which you did not know, Eredin," Ge'els continued his accusatory speech. - If the Riders are destined to die, their deaths are a sacrifice on the altar of your ego."

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 11:03

For a court advisor, such a decision is a rare coincidence: with the death of those close to him, the pillars of the king's rule will also be shaken. He couldn't be the only one who saw that implication in Ge'els's speech.

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 10:44

The next to speak was the one Eredin least expected to hear, Alberich, who had seen the smokes of Saovina more than five hundred times. A once mighty sorcerer whose greatness is remembered only in the yellowed pages of chronicles and tales. Eredin had no idea that Alberich was interested in anything other than birdwatching.

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 10:43

//"Have you not forgotten who the king is here, Ge'eles? - Have you forgotten that we are not billions to condemn the best of Aen Elle to a painful death? Eredin offers not war - though in hundreds of years I have not seen a greater plague than dh'oine - but the release of the captives."

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 10:42

In Aen Elle culture, old age, and tradition are respected without question. That is why Eredin would never kill Auberon. Everyone has learned from their mothers that the customs of their people are as unshakable and sacred as the shaky and corrupted customs of others.

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 10:41

The council fell silent.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 21:17

A flying machine flew over Eredin's head. He had to hurry before the dh'oine messengers got word of what had happened.

Camrad_RIP 16.03.24 в 21:18

//"We have no time to waste," Eredin summarized. - I'll show you where they're holding the Riders."

Camrad_RIP 17.03.24 в 10:40